Talk to me about buying a new bike

[Rhubarbcrumbled]

I have a bit of insurance money to spend on a new bike after my old one was stolen but I want a bit of change and I'm not sure what to. I used to ride a single speed (ex city commuter) and had a trailer for DS but I've got two to get about now and the oldest is too big to get in the trailer now. So...my thoughts are that I should maybe go for a touring bike (I have hopes of doing a bit of cycle touring some time in the next few years) with a kangaroo seat on the front for DS2 1.5yrs and a trailer bike for DS1 4.5yrs.

Can anybody point me in the direction of a nice touring bike or suggest another option? And give me an idea on a good trailer bike and kangaroo seat. I've got up to 800 to spend plus more for accessories so I should get something nice for that!

If it were me, I would look at a hi-spec hybrid, like
one of these

or

this.

or

this.

I'm not sure how much budget you need for accessories.

Oh, I've got 800 to spend on the bike and then about 300 to spend on the trailer and seat. The bikes that were stolen were quite high spec and it's on a new for old insurance so I've not done too badly...

Wow. Well done. Make sure you buy a good lock or 2 as well. :-)

The buggers stole them from a locked garage! This time they'll be locked to the garage as well. Grrrr!

Trailer bike - I would 100% go for one that attaches to the rack, not the seat post. I've used both, and the rack mounted version is massively more stable & nicer to cycle with.

Ours was a 2nd hand Islabikes version, don't think they make them any more sadly, but I think there are other rack mounted ones around.

Also worth knowing that we got our second hand one very cheap (£20!) as it didn't have the adult bike attachment point, but it was very easy to improvise an alternative onto a standard steel rack.

This looks very similar to the one we had. Personally I wouldn't bother with gears on a tagalong, certainly dd never really got the hang of changing (even with sturmey archer hub gears) until she was practically grown out of it.